Fingerprint Analysis Testimony Admissible

US v. Baines, -- F.3d --, 2009 WL 2139117 (10th Cir. 7/20/09) - The district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting expert fingerprint analysis testimony. Defense argued gov't did not establish reliability of method for matching latent print to defendant's known print. As to the first Daubert factor, the record did not establish that the fingerprint analysis technique has been subjected to testing meeting rigorous scientific standards, but it has been around a long time and the FBI conducts demanding training followed by proficiency exams, so this weighs somewhat in favor of admissibility. The second Daubert factor, peer review and publication re: the theory or process, was not established by the gov't and did not weigh in favor of admissibility. The third factor, the known or potential error rate of the procedure, strongly supported admission of the expert testimony. Agent Meagher testified to an error rate of one per every 11 million cases. Can't not be impressed with that, tho the court did recognize there "may have been" unidentified errors due to lack of defense resources to hire independent experts and obstacles to post-conviction review. The fourth factor, the existence and maintenance of standards controlling the technique's operation, was found not critical to deciding the appeal, so could be assumed not to support admissibility. As to the fifth factor, general acceptance of the technique in the relevant scientific or expert community, there was overwhelming acceptance, tho not by a community of unbiased experts. All in the all, the record supported the district court's finding of sufficient reliability to permit admission of the fingerprint analysis.